Today, Sky has released its Sky Kids app for iOS and Android, which enables children to watch programmes that are suitable for their age on the tablets their parents believe they own (though most kids have other ideas).

The app was designed by digital agency ustwo – which is best known for the hit game Monument Valley and, unusually for an agency creating a brand app for a broadcaster, has been namechecked often by Sky as the app’s creator. In advance of the launch, I interviewed UX lead Ayesha Moarif and visual design lead Alex Salas-Wardman about the project at us two’s offices in Shoreditch.

In the video top, Alex and Ayesha show off the app and take us through the creative process behind it from pitch to delivery. They take us through how ustwo got children to help with the ideation, pitching and testing of the app – and how this guided the design of a user experience that is simple for children to use unaided. They also reveal how they addressed the needs of parents with the app, for example allowing those with younger children to prevent them watching channels aimed at older ones like CBBC and Cartoon Network (below).

Alex and Ayesha also discuss the character design of the avatars by Tado – called Sky Buddies, and seen behind them below – that represent the different accounts you can set up for individual children, and how they grew from being pure iconography into characters children can interact with.

ustwo will continue development on the app, with Sky revealing at the app’s launch this morning that the ability to download shows for offline viewing and for parents to set usage limits.